I received this book from G.P. Gottlieb and Booksgosocial as and eArc for my honest review any opinions that come from this review are my own. Thank you to both the Author and the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

It was the cover and the title of this book that pulled me in first if I am going to be completely honest.
this was a very quick and easy cozy mystery that contained recipes I have not tried them but I love that they do.
This book contains a lot of twists and turns and plenty of stories to keep you intrigued. FYI this book contains lots of characters and lots of side stories. In some ways it felt a little all over the place in other ways it seemed to tie together. The main character Alene seemed a little messy and judgmental to me she wasn't very likeable in my eyes. But overall the book was okay.

Nothing goes better with a great recipe than a good old fashion mystery. Being the little shop on the corner has all the disadvantages of being smack in the middle of a mystery. One perk? Dating a detective, or trying to.

I really could not get into this book. It was very hard decision for my to make to not finish a book. I found that the book jumped all over and I was confused frequently by who was talking and what was happening.

It doesn't feel like Alene is investigating. She is just concerned. Her life is busy, her family is a handful and business is booming. Then the owner next door dies. How can she not be concerned? The story has lots of side stories that all play out in good detail. It makes for an interesting lead. Doesn't hurt that her boyfriend is a detective, does it! A good story!

The book was just a hot mess overall. The series has potential but not without a heavy dose of edir.

After the owner of next door’s business is found dead Alene gets a bee in her bonnet about finding out who killed him. Actually, there is a lot Alene has a bee in her bonnet about. Rarely have I read about a character that was so judgemental of everyone around her: her employees, her kids, even her customers. I think about the only people that get a pass are her father Cal and her friend Ruthie (but Ruthie seems to be perfect, so there wasn’t anything to judge).

This story could use a good edit. The narrative is rather choppy, yanking the reader from Alene’s thoughts to an unrelated mention of what someone one is doing. Plus there are little mistakes, such as that a customer orders green tea, but a page an a half later drinks her black coffee.

It could definitely do with an edit to make Alene a more sympathetic character. She's that nasty gossipy neighbour when she's weighing the options how each of the people she knows could have been a killer.

And can someone explain how Alene can serve a vegan omelet at her restaurant? The rule of thumb is that you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

I finished this, but found it a bit dense as we were told what all the characters were wearing, eating and doing every time they appeared. I sometimes forgot who the murder victim was and how they fitted in with everyone else! Read this if you like mysteries involving café owners playing detective, whilst having a crush on an actual detective, and also if you want to know the minutiae of running a café.

Alene Baron is busy working at her vegan Whipped and Sipped Cafe when a staff member finds the body of fitness business owner dead next door. Alene's police boyfriend Frank is in charge of the investigation. Alene keeps pondering about possible suspects amongst the quarrelsome family members while dealing with her own three kids and ailing father.

Although the story had promise, the book really needed a good edit to tighten up the story. There was a lot of meandering and barbed dialogue amongst the cafe staff that bogged down the flow of the story and there were way too many characters.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and BooksGoSocial. All opinions are my own.

Second in a series, I'll definitely go back and read the first. There are a lot of characters in the book but a list of characters is provided at the beginning of book which was helpful. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

There's a lot of potential and I liked the characters and the setting. I found the plot a bit confusing and didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

It was okay but to many characters, it was confusing for me to see who was related to who, I found the kids a bit annoying and the FMC a bit immature

For such a lighthearted cover, this was really a downer of a cozy. Our MC is very pessimistic and extremely suspicious. I had a really hard time finishing this one, but the mystery was interesting enough that I was yes to get to the conclusion. That said, I will not be revisit these characters in another book.

An average mystery with lots of characters.

I’m grateful the author included a list of characters at the beginning of the book. However, even with the list, I had to keep going back and seeing who was who, which then interrupted the flow of the story. I didn’t care for the protagonist, Alene, which didn’t help my view of the story. The book was ok to read, but nothing special. It wasn’t for me.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

Alene owns a vegetarian/vegan cafe and coffeehouse. She is accompanied by a cast of delightfully intriguing, varied characters and a mystery you may (or may not!) be able to solve before all is revealed.
The cover and description of the book intrigued me. It was a fun and cozy read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book. Look forward to more on the series.

This is a quick and easy reading cosy mystery that is entertaining and includes recipes. I love that!
This is also the second in the series and having not read the first one I think I now need to.

There are twists and and plenty of intrigue to get your teeth stuck into. The characters are good with Alene, the vegan cafe owner, Cal, who is Alene's father and Fran, the romantic interest. There is so much going on in this book that although I found it easy to read you do need to wrap your head around everything that is happening.

Overall though it is a great length, a good story and love the setting. A good, entertaining read for sure.

With loads of characters, twists and turns, and lots of clues, this cozy will keep you turning pages. I want to find others by this author. Thanks # netgalley and # books go social for the eARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are mine.

Like a telenovela without the subtitles.

I wanted very much to like this book more than I did. By the time I got to page 20, I had been introduced to twice that many characters, in such a way that assumed you had read the other books in the series.

I had not read them.

What struck me most was the main character’s judgmental and critical demeanor. Every other sentence was how Alene needed to fix someone, speak to someone, train her employees on basic kindness and other criticisms. Simply put, Alene was unlikable, and that makes for a difficult read.

I’m commend the author on their thorough description and vibe within the cafe, but the action was dragged through the mud of these critical side comments, and dramatis personae longer than my arm!

I could keep track of everyone in the book, so the killer revealed was not exciting; merely confusing.

Perhaps a better read with the context of the other books in the series. But this book was not for me.

This was a good read, however there seemed to be a lot of characters! It was nice getting to know them all! Look forward to more on the series.

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: Smothered, A Whipped and Sipped Mystery
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: G. P. Gottlieb
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 16 February 2021

“ An excellent cozy mystery you should add to your TBR today! ” - @dupuisshowreads

This was an excellent cozy mystery! Do you want a cozy series with lots of characters, like a classic Agatha Christie novel? You should give this book a try. You’ll really like it, especially if you can follow multiple storylines that involve murder, disappearances, family situations, and budding romances.

This is the second book in the Whipped and Sipped Mysteries series (Battered is the first) and Gottlieb provides a list of characters at the beginning with a brief bio on each. I was able to pick up reading speed after a few chapters and the characters were easy to keep sorted (thanks, G.P.!).

Alene owns a vegetarian/vegan cafe and coffeehouse. She is accompanied by a cast of delightfully intriguing, varied characters and a mystery you may (or may not!) be able to solve before all is revealed.

I really enjoyed her father’s outlook on life and his situation. Being set in the big city of Chicago, I admire Gottlieb’s ability to keep locations close, enabling the reader to feel more in-tune with Alene’s world.

This book was a new-to-me author, new characters, and one helluva of a whodunit paired with red herrings and rabbit holes galore. I was left guessing and second guessing myself the entire way through. I’ll have to give the rest of the books in the series a try! 

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for α complimentary digital copy!

I saw a lot of good reviews for this book so I was excited! I agree it was a cosy read and I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t read the first book? But I Just found it to be really long winded. Especially the long list of characters. I did appreciate the character list but even then trying to keep up with who was who - I mean you get to know people as you go but there were many times I just wasn’t bothered to figure out who someone was.
The actual mystery plot line was okay, it was a bit of a twist but not super crazy. Maybe this just wasn’t a book for me. I’m sure others will enjoy.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy!